Bulawayo councillors suspend town clerk, accuse him of incompetence

BULAWAYO – Christopher Dube has been suspended as the Bulawayo town clerk after councillors accused him of incompetence and abuse of office.

The retired army Major, who joined the Bulawayo City Council after serving in a similar role with the Victoria Falls Town Council, has had an uneasy tenure.

In a letter suspending him on Thursday, acting mayor Tinashe Kambarami accused Dube of mishandled a water crisis, misappropriating a ward retention fund, abuse of office and failing to implement council resolutions.

Kambarami said Dube’s suspension was without benefits, and the town clerk was barred from entering administrative council buildings.

Dube, according to Kambarami, “failed to effectively manage repairs and maintenance works” that have led to a major water crisis in the city, with residents going for weeks without water.

Kambarami said Dube, who is responsible for the “effectiveness and efficiency” of the council, had failed to account for money missing from the ward retention fund.

“According to council minutes submitted on July 3, 2019, the fund is supposed to be having a credit of ZW$4,441,909 yet the account showed less that ZW$10,000 balance as at July 10, 2019. You therefore misled council,” Kambarami said.

Kambarami accused Dube of paying some contractors in advance without authority for work which had still not been done, prejudicing the local authority.

Dube is also accused of corruptly getting an offer let to prospect for mine at the council-owned Good Hope/Aisleby farm without a council resolution.

Councillors also accused Dube of failing to implement their resolutions, notably over a 2017 invitation for expression of interest for the redevelopment of Ascot, which once had a horse race track.

“These expressions of interest were received yet these have not been submitted to the council for consideration. Your inefficiency… has resulted in the city losing potential investment and business against our city’s vision of being a vibrant economy by 2024,” Kambarami added.

Dube was not immediately available for comment.